A Single Bullet
by Pyromaniactic Pineapple
Summary: How much could a single bullet change their story? A lot. Set at the end of the One. This is very bad quality writing, fyi.


**Okay just gonna say right now that this story is nowhere near as good as the rest of the stories in the fandom, but this is an an old fan fiction that I found of mine and I decided, why not post it? Sorry for wasting the next 20 minutes of you your life, but read, and please review, and have a nice day. :) Also the italicized part is taken directly from the book, page 292 of the One. Also I own none of this.  
**

 _As Kriss let out another cry, I realized that the guards who were sent to our houses hadn't abandoned their posts at all. They were dead and buried, their clothes stolen and standing in front of us._

When Kriss let out slightly more pained cry, mine and Maxon's heads snapped around, to see if she was alright. Her eyes were wide with fear, as a rebel guard held a thick deadly black gun to her head, his hand poised on the trigger. Kriss let out a little whimper, and Maxon, grabbed the gun that Aspen had dropped in favor of a larger one.

Maxon hands fumbled for a moment, before holding the gun up, pointed at the rebel guards heart. I didn't see if he shot or not, because I noticed a flash of red in the corner of my vision. I turned around, and standing right behind a totally unaware Maxon was a guard, and he drew his gun and pointed it at Maxon. He smirked at me, as if knowing there was nothing I could do. I didn't think, I just jumped.

I meant to hit him, and push him back, but I missed, and heard a shot. I landed a few feet from Maxon, and expected to see him crumple to the floor, lifeless. instead he turned around, and looked at me and shock, and then in horror. I felt strange, and slowly, I don't know how I had ignored it for so long, my stomach started burning, as if I had swallowed a match and it was still burning. I pressed my hand into the folds of my dress, and they came away red and sticky.

I realized I had been shot. In the stomach. Already, I felt a deep cloud settling over my mind, and slowly, the pain numbed away. And then, as if I had been shot again, it hit me. I was dying. I gasped out his name, and he turned to face me. My eyes kept closing, making it harder and harder for me to keep them open. "I'm s-s-sorry, Maxon, I n-nev-never meant-t hurt you," I said, before pausing to cough, making pain flare through every bone in my body, as I cough up a small blood clot. His eyes looked so beautiful, and filled with love. "I-I lo-love you," I gasped before the darkness settled over my mind, and the world faded away.

 **?** **ﾟﾑﾑ** **?** **ﾟﾑﾑ** **?** **ﾟﾑﾑ**

I stared at her. My thoughts were racing, and I realized, that the rebel guard that was standing a few feet away had been about to shoot me. She had saved me. And now she was dead. What. Have. I. Done. How could I have been so stupid. I ran my hands through my hair, then grabbed a gun, and pointed it at the rebel who shot her. He laughed, and I pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. I threw down the gun in disgust. He was unarmed, so I turned back to America, and cradled her head in my arms. She looked pale and beautiful, as if she was only asleep. Over my shoulder I heard the rebels calling to each other, and I looked up to survey the room.

The ground was littered with bodies, but Kriss had escaped, along with Mother and Father, and there were only two guards left. They called to each other, and I listened carefully, trying to be inconspicuous as possibly, not that it mattered, they appeared to have forgotten me for the time being. "Did you get the Prince, Tanner," the one across the room called.

"Well Jackup, he's not dead, he's worse than dead," Tanner replied after giving me a malice filled grin. But he was right, I thought, I was worse than dead.

"Come on then, we'll lock him in here, and join the rest," Jackup said, as he walked to the doors. Tanner turned, then reached in his back pocket and pulled out a gun. I realized with a shock that he was probably going to shoot me. I didn't care any more, now that America was gone, there was no point. He turned, and smirked at me one last time, before he walked away from me and out the doors. They slammed, and it sounded like they had piled several heavy things outside them, blocking any escape.

Me and America were alone in the great room. I could have room to the safe room on the wall behind me. I should have. But I couldn't leave America. So I sat there and cradled her. How could I have been so stupid. I was just about to ruin both of our lives. She had sacrificed herself for me, and then died thinking I hated her. Who was I to get mad at her after I had done exactly the same thing to her for the past months. For gods sake I had been dating three other girls. I had practically set them up. And I had lost her, just as I had always feared, because I was too stubborn.

I held her even more tightly, and lightly kissed her beautiful lips, my hands holding up her neck. And I felt it. The slightest beat. So fleet i wasn't even sure if it was there, but then I felt it again. I snapped up, my heart racing. I gripped the edge of my shirt, and tore off a long stripp, then wrapped it around her stomach and tied it tightly. To my relief the blood flow stopped soon, and her pulse felt slightly stronger. Not knowing what else to do, I cradled her body, and prayed that she would be all right.

Sometime later, I heard a banding on the door. I grabbed the nearest gun, and quickly checked the chamber. It was almost totally full. I grabbed it and rested my hand slightly above the trigger. Finally, the doors banged open. "Drop your weapons!" I called, before realizing, it was my captain of the guard. I dropped the gun and said, "Good lord, you nearly scared me to death. Whats the status on the rebels?"

"Defeated, we've already begun working on clean up. And I'm sorry," he paused, then took a deep breath and continued,"They got the Queen, she tried to sacrifice herself for the King, but they got him right after. We do however have all the selection girls accounted for, minus Lady America. We will however keep searching for her."

"You don't need to, shes right over here," I said, glancing behind me, my voice cracking. One of the guards standing behind the captain rushed forward.

"Mer," he called his voice filled with fear. After a moment I realized that it was that guard Aspen Leger. He hobbled forward, tightly clutching a cruch. When he reached her, he dropped his crutch, and leaned down to hold her. "Oh Mer, please don't be dead," he cried. He held her neck before leaning back, with a gasp of relief.

"We need to get her to a safe place, and quickly, but the hospital is completely full, we need the doctor down here now, before we can even move her, Aspen, you will stay here with the prince. Guard him with your life," he guard ordered before leaving, with two other guards in tow.

There was a silence broken only by the small sounds of people cleaning up beyond the doors. I walked over to America, and sat down to wait, checking to make sure she was still alright. As I settled down, Aspen turned to look at me, and his gaze was so hate filled, as if I had shot her myself. And I realized that I practically had. I should have had a bullet in my stomach, not America. If I had just turned around after shooting the guard holding Kriss, America wouldn't have gotten shot. After several minutes, the captain returned, this time with the doctor. They took her carefully to my room, and laid her down on the bed, before running to grab more medical supplies. Without him, I don't think she would have made it. In fact, we weren't sure she was going to make it. And even if she did, the doctor said there could be some damage to her brain, because of all the blood loss. But I still hoped she would be okay.

For weeks, she just lay there. I was worried, so worried I barely slept. She looked so peaceful, yet so still. One night, as I lay awake, I heard a small gasp from my bed, and I jumped up, running to the bedside. America was sitting up, but something was wrong. Instead of looking at me with love, and hope, as she had just weeks ago, she looked confused and scared. "Oh America!" I cried. "You're okay, I was so worried."

"I'm sorry your highness, but where am I," she asked. I stared at her confused. And then it hit me. She didn't remember. I knew the doctor had said there could be damage to her brain. But I never expected this.

"Guard, could you please run and get Officer Leger, quickly," I called through the door. I heard the receding footsteps of the guard, and turned back to America. I had an idea. Maybe she only forgot somethings, like the past few weeks. Maybe she still remembered me other than just as the prince. I carefully reached up and tugged my ear, the movement is familiar to me. She just looked confused. She didn't remember me. She didn't remember she loved me. And worst of all, she didn't remember that I loved her. I heard the creak of my door opening, and the sound of a cane on the floor.

"You asked for me?" he asked, his voice cool, but polite. Then he looked past me and saw America sitting up. "Mer?" He asked, then rushed past me to her side. When America saw, him, her face lit up. Her face showed love, love so strong, love that not so long ago was mine. She pulled him close, and kissed him, and my heart shattered into a million pieces.


End file.
